Hot dawg! (literally its sweltering up here right now!)
First off thanks to everyone checking out the pics and comments!
Hamish, the N. maxima is a clone from Jeff Shafer, he and I have been trying to decide on what variant it is and I am leaning towards the "pierensis" form. Its most similar to pics I've seen, esp on NepsAroundTheHouse's webpage. It certainly has become one of my most favorite plants....I'm eager to see how well N. hamata shall influence it.
On the N. lowii, I've notice this pitcher is indeed much tougher than the other lowers I've had in the past. Its also probably the biggest I've ever had so far. Of course, many of the plants are very large pitchering this year with the addition of the underbench fogging system.
Jess, soon, many of the lowlanders are just beginning to pick up the pace with these squealching days!
Julian, I'm not sure how old the N. petiolata is....I'd have to say 3 years old....Tony or Rob could give you a more exact estimate, or exact age. It is from Rob's original batch. N. lowii and N. ephippiata are fairly fast growers for me. I have alot of plants to monitor now a days so I don't really notice how fast or slow a plant is growing unless its N. villosa or N. gracilis! But I don't think they are terrible, I have a new pitcher on both N. lowii and N. ephippiata forming and both pitchers you see are just a few days old, and a new one is already on the way.
Dave, Its getting really big quick. I'd say estimated 2.5-3 inches tall, its not fully opened yet.
Tre, well, if you got the same clone. Take note that N. spathulata will not remain green forever unless you have a more greener clone. Mine goes to a shiny deep red, almost like a red metallic shine.